The Music of ABBA featuring Rajaton

The Music of ABBA featuring Rajaton

Renowned Finnish a cappella ensemble Rajaton joins the Pittsburgh Symphony for a concert of ABBA hits! Mamma Mia, Voulez-Vous, Waterloo and more that will surely have Dancing Queens in the aisles saying “Gimme Gimme Gimme” and “Thank You For The Music!”

Steve Reineke

conductor

Steven Reineke has established himself as one of North America’s leading conductors of popular music. Along with his role as Principal Pops Conductor of the TSO, Mr. Reineke is music director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. He is also principal pops conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and principal pops conductor of the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and his extensive North American conducting appearances include Atlanta, Cincinnati, Edmonton, and San Francisco. On stage, Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip-hop, Broadway, television, and rock, including Cynthia Erivo, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady, Peter Frampton, and Ben Folds, among others. In 2017, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered featured Reineke leading the National Symphony Orchestra performing live music excerpts between news segments—a first in the show’s 45-year history. In 2018, Reineke led the National Symphony Orchestra with hip-hop legend Nas performing his seminal album Illmatic on PBS’s Great Performances.

As the creator of more than 100 orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Reineke’s work has been performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings on the Telarc label. His symphonic works, Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Casey at the Bat are performed frequently. His Sun Valley Festival Fanfare was used to commemorate the Sun Valley Summer Symphony pavilion, and his Festival Te Deum and Swan’s Island Sojourn were débuted by the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands worldwide.

Rajaton

vocalists

The Finnish word Rajaton translates as "boundless" – a word that so accurately describes the way this six-voice a cappella ensemble approaches music. Regularly performing around a hundred concerts and workshops each year, Rajaton exposes their audiences to the kind of diversity of repertoire, singing style, and stage presentation that has made them a phenomenon on the world stage.

Performing at concert halls, jazz and choral festivals, and with various orchestras, this distinct group of musicians approaches all styles of music with the same level of commitment and integrity, making it difficult to imagine an audience that they could not inspire, or a type of music they could not make their own. In their native Finland, Rajaton is a bona fide pop phenomenon, successfully bridging the gap that often exists between classical and mainstream convention.

Rajaton has released 17 different albums. In 2020, Rajaton celebrates 23 years of music-making with one double platinum, three platinum and eight gold records in Finland under their belt, as their worldwide record sales are drawing over 400.000 copies altogether.

Ever seeking new artistic challenges, the group has grown immeasurably through collaborations with other a cappella artists, including The King’s Singers and The Real Group, as well as productions with film directors and choreographers. But it is perhaps their deep passion for choral art, their generosity of spirit and their sheer enjoyment of singing that has won the hearts and acclaim of audiences and critics everywhere. Their energy – infectious; their ability to entertain and inspire – Rajaton!